


House of Horror

by agoodpersonrose



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, First Kiss, Halloween, Haunted Houses, M/M, Meet-Cute, Meet-Ugly, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Ray Butani Businessman Extraordinaire, Schitt's Creek Trick or Treat 2020, Zombie Costumes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26875681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agoodpersonrose/pseuds/agoodpersonrose
Summary: Come and visit Ray Butani's House of Horror! Be frightened! Be terrified! Be delighted! At this year's Schitt's Creek Halloween festival, have your wits scared out of you by our team of scary zombies! You won't regret it!Or, Patrick somehow ends up working in a Haunted House as a zombie when he moves to Schitt's Creek, where he meets David, who finds himself in the midst of a panic attack.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 52
Kudos: 146
Collections: Schitt's Creek Trick Or Treat





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
> Meet Cute!!! Patrick gets a job working at a haunted house for the summer. David is forced to go by Stevie and Alexis, but during the walk through they get separated and David starts to panic. Cue Patrick dressed as a zombie (or something equally as terrifying) trying desperately not to freak David out and help him get through the maze on his own.

Patrick Brewer is first and foremost a proud man. He is hyper-aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and it turns out, one of his most crucial weaknesses is his inability to say no, even when his reputation is on the line.

After abandoning Rachel in the throes of planning a wedding, he had been hopeful that he would find some professional looking office job wherein he might home in his skills; local business management and offering advice to those who needed it. Despite the dire circumstances that brought him to the town of Schitt’s Creek, and into Ray Butani’s front room, Patrick remained hopeful that he would somehow make the best of what appeared to be a bad situation.

Patrick had not been expecting that his new job as a small business consultant would come with one major downfall.

It’s his first week on the job; he’s settling into the hectic disorganisation of working in Ray’s front room and watching the various different business clients come in and out. Ray’s enthusiasm never dips, and his eyes light up with excitement every time there is so much as a knock on the door.

Around lunch time, Ray approaches Patrick’s desk holding some sort of poster or flyer aloft in his hand, his smile still blazing brightly.

“Patrick!”

“Hi, Ray. What’s that?” Patrick asks, looking at the man with some trepidation. He had already learned the hard way from his short time in the town to never show any weakness to the townspeople else before he knows it, he’ll be roped into something torturous.

“I’m sure you’ve already heard gossip around the town, but I thought I would officially announce for you; The Schitt’s Creek House of Horror!”

Patrick blinks at Ray in silence for a moment as the words sink into his skull. He looks at the poster his new boss/landlord/roommate is holding up and stares blankly at the words, written in a bright orange font and looking far too peppy for a flyer that states “prepare to be horrified’ right under three pumpkins with Ray’s smiling face plastered on the front of them.

“Huh. Sounds like a fun event,” Patrick tries to be enthusiastic, but despite the fact that he hasn’t known Ray for that long, he can already see the seeds of some scheme in the other man’s eyes.

“I have no doubt that this event will be the most popular ever!”

Patrick forces a smile and looks back down at the sheets on his desk, already bracing himself for the next sentence.

“Of course, your role in it will be extremely exciting.”

“My role?”

Ray just grins, while Patrick swallows hard on the lump in his throat.

“What’s my role, Ray?” he asks, his patient tone beginning to wane as he struggles to get Ray to just come out with it. He clicks his pen against his notebook anxiously.

“It’s customary that whoever is working with me take part in the events. This year, the haunted house will be bigger and better than ever! We already have Roland and Bob signed on to be zombies, and I’m sure you’ll be excited to join them.”

“Join them?” Patrick echoes, watching as Ray just spins around on his heel and heads away towards the kitchen. “Ray, do I really have to--”

“It’s in your contract, Patrick,” Ray calls back.

“Fuck,” Patrick mutters, already wheeling his chair back over to the desk and flopping back into it. He opens it up and goes into his documents, reading through his employee contract and scanning it with his eyes.

_13.B - The employee of Ray Butani will, unless with evidenced medical reasons not to, take part in his various town events. This includes hiding Easter Eggs and dressing as the Easter Bunny at the Spring Fling, taking a shift as Santa at the Christmas Bonanza (religious reasons render the employee exempt from such events, though Hannukah costumes might be fun), and acting as a blood-thirsty Zombie at the annual Schitt’s Creek House of Horror Event._

“Fuck,” Patrick repeats, slightly louder, putting his head in his hands and slumping against the desk. He really should have read the contract more carefully.

🎃 🎃 🎃

“I can’t believe you actually hold these things here. I knew Schitt’s Creek was small, but a local haunted house? Roland is scary enough without the mask, I don’t need to go into a small space just to get jump scared by him,” David whines as Stevie drags him into the same field they had once attended a tailgate party in his first week in the town.

“Did you not come last year?” Stevie asks. She’s wearing her usual flannel and jean combo, having refused to make the effort of dressing up, but she looks excited to be here; looking around at the stalls in delight.

There is apple bobbing, and a Merry-Go-Round, and a house of mirrors. People all around them are dressed in over the top costumes; apparently because it is the day of Halloween, the majority of the townspeople dress up for the last day of festivities, but David and Stevie don’t stand out too badly. Or at least, they don’t stand out any more than they usually do.

At the end of the field, in the centre of it all, stands the Haunted House; a large shipping container-esque structure with fake blood and tattered fabric fluttering from the hole-like windows. The screams from inside echo across the field and David’s hairs stand on edge, he shivers, and rubs at his arms trying to pass it off as the breeze.

“I was dealing with enough anxiety in my life last year, I didn’t need to add to it by attending this… illustrious event.”

“Illustrious event? I’m sure Ray would be flattered,” Stevie says with a smirk. David forces a fake smile at her which she returns with amusement and pulls his leather jacket closer around his shoulders.

“Why did I even agree to come to this?” he mutters, looking down at his expensive jeans and jacket and already mourning the hours that will be lost to cleaning out stains and air drying them in the days that will follow.

“Because we had nothing better to do, and if you’re going to open a store in this town then you need to start attending community events and getting to know people,” she regards him with a raised eyebrow for a moment.

“How am I going to get to know people when they’re all dressed up so I can’t even recognise them?”

“Come on David, it’s a bit of fun.”

He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms against his chest defensively. “Fine, but we’re not going in there,” he says, gesturing at the large metal structure. The screams have died down, but for some reason that makes him more concerned than relieved. What happened to the people who were screaming? Are they no longer able to scream? Did something happen to them?

David is pulled out of his quickly spiralling thoughts by Stevie’s brazen laugh. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of Haunted Houses?”

He opens his mouth and then shuts it again like a goldfish. “I wouldn’t say afraid as a descriptor for someone who has enough self-preservation instinct to avoid places that are literally advertised as _haunting_ ,” he says, turning up his nose even as Stevie snorts and bumps his elbow familiarly.

They do a singular loop of the fairground; scoping out the areas of interest, they pass the Haunted House at an artificial distance, but David keeps it within his sights at all time, refusing to be caught unaware by the terrifying building.

Across the path David spots Ray talking to some men in zombie costumes. They seem to be in some sort of group huddle just out of sight of the front doors. He recognises Roland and Bob based on their stature, but the third man he can’t quite place. He’s shorter than the others; more compact and probably younger than the other men, if David could only see past all the face paint and special effects on his face.

Before he can look any closer, Stevie is dragging him off towards the food truck and well. David has never resisted the offer of fairground food.

The hotdogs satiate David’s nerves, and after the third one he’s more lenient with Stevie’s excitement. He lets her challenge him to some sort of ball and cup game in which it is officially proved that he really does _not_ have an arm for sports, and they stop to take pictures in a photo booth, before heading back into the centre of the park.

“David! David!”

He groans as he hears his sisters voice from behind, but Stevie forces them to stop and turn around, allowing Alexis and Ted to catch up with them.

“Me and Ted were about to go into the Haunted House, you two should come with!” she says as she approaches.

Stevie turns to look at David with a grin, who glares at her and shakes his head. “We were actually just going to get some more food, so--”

“I’m not that hungry, I could always wait until after the Haunted House?” Stevie interrupts.

“Yes, come on, David! It’ll be so much fun!”

“I don’t--”

“You’re not still scared of them, are you?” Alexis asks. She turns to Ted and Stevie with an enthused look on her face. “It was so precious, there was this one time our nanny Adelina took us to a Haunted House. David got so scared he punched his way through one of the walls to get out. Fortunately, it was only a cardboard wall so it was like, no biggie, but he wouldn’t come out from behind Adelina’s skirt for the whole night he was so scared. He had nightmares for like, weeks, and-- What was it that Mom called them, David? Night-time Oopsie-Daisies?”

“The actors are not meant to touch you, and something grabbed my ankle,” David says moodily. “That’s against the rules of the Haunted House. And I wasn’t scared, I was practically assaulted in there.”

“It was a gust of wind, David!”

“You didn’t feel it, I know what a hand feels like!”

Alexis just pouts at him. “I mean, if you’re still scared of them, I guess you could just wait outside?” she suggests, well aware that this tactic of giving him an out would only even work to make him more determined.

“Okay, that won’t be necessary. Let’s do the stupid House then, how hard can it be?”

“Don’t worry, David. I’m sure you won’t make too much of a _ghoul_ of yourself,” Ted says.

Alexis nods eagerly, waving the group towards the house. “Yes, David. Yes.”

David finds himself being dragged towards the terrifying structure. He does his best not to let his trepidation show on his face as they are greeted by Ray at the door, dressed as a vampire and smiling so widely that the plastic edge of his fake fangs is visible.

“Looks like we’ve got a brave group of explorers ready to get traumatised. Now, I must warn you of the rules,” he says, switching from cheery to severity in less than a moment. “There is a no touching the actor’s rule, follow the given path, and most importantly, have fun!”

“You hear that, David?” Stevie murmurs, nudging him. He elbows her back and scowls as they are waved into the first room of the house. It’s dark but there are areas lit up so that they can make their way through the introductory room. David startles slightly when a mechanic skeleton jumps out at them, but it’s only minor and the only other content of the room consists of plastic gravestones and fake cobwebs.

“The only scary thing about this is that someone actually spent money on all these tacky decorations,” David mutters to Stevie who snorts in agreement.

They follow the path through a tattered grey sheet into a darker room, where white strobe lights go off, clearly aiming to disorientate them. Screams fill the air as a figure dressed in torn and destroyed clothes jumps forward and growls at them. David cackles as Stevie all but mounts his arm in fear to get away from them, and they continue on to the next room.

A loud crack of thunder across the speakers makes them all jump and laugh again. This room has several jail-like structures on one wall with fake figures in it. It’s the false confidence given from the fake bodies that makes the jump scare from the next actor all the more effective. David jumps backwards with a screech, and turns to laugh with Stevie, only to be unable to find anyone next to him.

The strobe lights are still flashing, and he looks around himself desperately to try and find someone. He can hear screams from the next room but with the flashing lights is unable to find his way through.

His breaths come hard and fast. David puts a hand on his chest to try and calm himself down but suddenly it feels like the walls are closing in. He lets out a sobbing noise as he backs himself against a thankfully clean wall, sliding down it onto the dirty floor in a defensive manoeuvre as he pants loudly and shoves his head between his knees.

🎃 🎃 🎃

Patrick had been reluctant at first, that much is true, but once he’d gotten into the spirit of the job, his acting past had jumped out, and he found that he actually really enjoyed the screams of surprise and the laughter that came after it when he scared people.

His room was one of the better ones; he was situated at the end of a corridor of cages and prison bars, all filled with still, unmoving figures creating a sense of security until the guests get to the end, and right by the door- _BAM-_ Patrick jumps out.

It’s been going well so far; he made Jocelyn Schitt scream and laugh hysterically as she was led out of the room by a few women. He had made one woman extremely angry, and she had barely jumped and then glared at him as she walked away with a huff. He’s been enjoying it.

That is, until a group of four young people enter. Patrick jumps forward and they scream, as was the usual. Three of them scarper in the direction of the curtain, crossing into the next room quickly and laughing all the way, but one of them jumps backwards in the wrong direction.

Patrick watches helplessly as the man turns to try and re-orient himself helplessly. He spins around in circles, reaching out as if to grab onto one of his friends, before backing against the wall all while hyperventilating.

Patrick takes a step forward, all too aware of the nature of his costume, and concerned that in trying to help he will only make the man’s fear worse.

The man whimpers, and Patrick crouches in front of him, a full step away, and tries to make himself look as non-threatening as possible; which is difficult considering the full face of make-up and costume.

“Hey, hey, are you okay?” he says quietly.

The man jumps again, and Patrick winces as he seems to try and push himself back further into the wall.

“I’m sorry, I’m not meant to go out of character but I’m really not gonna scare you again,” Patrick keeps talking, keeping his voice quiet and steady as he moves to kneel in front of the man. “My name is Patrick; can I do anything to help?”

The man looks up from between his knees, and Patrick can see tracks of tears running down his face. His stomach clenches in guilt as he looks across at him. Chains rattle in the background, and the soundtrack of a storm continues to play over the speakers.

“What’s your name?”

“David,” the man croaks out, still looking pretty terrified, but Patrick nods.

“Hi David. I know the costume is pretty realistic, but you’d probably be even more horrified to hear that it’s actually an improvement on the clothes I wear day to day,” Patrick tries, and is relieved to see David’s breaths begin to slow.

“Huh.”

“No really, I’m a business major, I work in an office at Ray’s. My usual costume is a pair of discount jeans from target and a blue button up shirt. I have like ten of them in different shades.”

This earns him a laugh, and Patrick inches closer until his back is pressed against the same wall David leaning against.

“Can you keep talking?” David asks when Patrick goes silent. His voice is breathy and quiet, and Patrick nods, his brain immediately scanning for conversation topics.

“Um, what will make me seem less scary?” Patrick ponders aloud. “How’s this; I didn’t even want to be here, I’m only doing this job because Ray put it in my contract, and I’m too afraid to say no to him, because I also live in his house.”

David laughs properly at that one.

“I’m no good at saying no, which I probably should have realised when I proposed to my high school sweetheart because I thought it would make her happy, and then left less than a month later when I realised that I was miserable.”

Patrick realises too late that he’s heading down a dangerous path, but he just can’t seem to stop.

“I mean, I’m a 30 year old man, working a desk job in a town that I barely know because I’ve been denying for my whole life that I might not be the person that everyone thought I was when I was on all the sports teams at school.”

Patrick almost jumps out of his skin when David’s hand grabs at his knee, but he sinks into the sensation quickly, taking comfort in the small gesture.

“I got my first actual job less than 6 months ago in retail, and then immediately drove the store to bankruptcy,” David mutters, looking straight forward.

“I’m helping all these small businesses get set up all because I can’t come up with an idea of my own.”

“I’m living in a motel room and sleep in a twin bed in the same room as my sister.”

“I didn’t realise I was gay until like, a month ago, and I’ve never even kissed a guy.”

David goes silent at that one and pulls his hand away. Patrick immediately regrets opening his mouth at all. He laughs but it comes out forced, and when he turns to look, David is staring at him, his eyes widened in shock.

“Well,” he says, “I can’t see what you look like under all the make-up, but I’m sure you’re a handsome guy. You’ll find someone in no time.”

Despite the compliment, Patrick still flushes in embarrassment. He claps his hands on his knees in a decisive gesture.

“Do you think you can carry on with the rest of the house?” he asks. David immediately tenses back up again at that and shakes his head. “How about I walk you through the rest of it. I can point out who all the actors are so that you don’t get scared?”

David’s lips purse in a curious way, and Patrick lets his eyes get drawn to them for a moment. “I could be amenable to that,” he says softly.

Patrick stands up from the floor and goes to brush dust off his knees, before realising that he’s wearing tattered, dirty clothes that aren’t meant to be wiped. When he looks up, David is watching him with amusement written on his face as he brushes the sleeves of his leather jacket.

Patrick takes the opportunity to properly look at his outfit; the fitted jacket and skin-tight jeans revealing every inch of his body. His blood pressure rises as his eyes take in the sight, and he has to look away to hide his immediately reaction.

“Shall we?” he asks, gesturing towards the curtain which is rippling slightly in the breeze.

David takes a deep, calming breath and nods, following Patrick’s lead towards the door. Before they can pass through it, he reaches out and grabs Patrick’s hand. Patrick squeezes it reassuringly and they enter the next room.

This one is smaller than Patrick’s, and he is already aware that there are no actors in here, so he doesn’t hesitate in rushing through.

“Roland is in this one; he will make a really loud noise,” Patrick says to David before they enter.

“I’m more afraid of Roland than the zombie,” David mutters but he does seem afraid when Roland jumps forward at them from behind a coffin.

Patrick can’t say he doesn’t enjoy the way David sinks himself into Patrick’s side as they pass through however, and he holds onto the other man just a little tighter in response to Roland’s screaming.

“Okay, it’s just Gwen in the next one,” he says as they walk straight forward. “She’s in a rubber dress and she’ll just follow us through.”

“What?” David’s voice comes out in a squeak. “Who’s Gwen?”

“She’s Bob’s wife. I think. I’m not actually clear on that though,” Patrick answers with a grin, unable to hide his charmed reaction to David’s disgusted face.

They step into the room, and Patrick’s stomach flutters not in response to the eerie atmosphere they’re met with, but instead by the feeling of David’s arms wrapping around his waist and pulling their bodies together. Patrick can’t resist petting his hair lightly as he hides David’s sight with his arms around his head.

Gwen’s room is the final one with an actor, but David doesn’t remove himself from Patrick’s grip, and instead seems to burrow closer as they pass through two more rooms, finally breaking through some plastic curtaining and out into the cool night air.

🎃 🎃 🎃

As they break through the last door, David can’t help but grip ever tighter around Patrick’s waist. From this angle, he can’t see the make-up and costume, and instead lets himself get lost in the solid sensation of Patrick’s body; his arms secure around his shoulders protecting him from sight.

“David!”

His name is called from somewhere and he squeezes Patrick one final time before pulling away and turning towards the interruption. Alexis rushes over and grabs at him as if to check for damage. She seems genuinely concerned which is sweet, but David is too distracted by the continued presence of the other man behind them.

“I’m so sorry, David! I didn’t even realise you were missing until we got too far, we were so worried!”

“Well, you didn’t have to be, I’m fine,” David tries for blasé, but Patrick’s presence indicates otherwise, and the group all seem to notice him at the same time, looking between him and David with eager expressions.

“Looks like you faced your fears,” Stevie says with a laugh.

When David turns back, he’s momentarily shocked again by Patrick’s appearance, but he smiles at the memory of the sweet man underneath it all.

“Um, this is Patrick, he helped me out when I got lost,” David mutters.

“Nice to meet you _Patrick_ ,” Stevie mutters.

“Or rather, nice to _eat_ you,” Ted intervenes, sticking out a hand to shake which Patrick takes with some trepidation. “You sure do have a strong _deadication_ to the job.”

“Wow,” David mutters, and he doesn’t miss the amused look that Patrick gives him in response.

“Ah, Patrick. There you are,” Ray says as he approaches the group from behind. “I was just coming to tell you that your shift is finished. You’re free to go and enjoy the park. Unless of course you’d like to accompany me for some team building? I was thinking apple bobbing,” he says, waving his arms around in demonstration.

Patrick pulls a face, distorted by the grey and bloodied make up, and David almost cracks up. “Um, actually--”

“That is such a shame, Ray, but we just invited Patrick to join us for the rest of the day,” David intervenes. “We thought it would be a good idea for him to meet some new people.”

Ray, unphased as ever, smiles and nods brightly. “Of course, I hope you have an excellent evening Patrick. Don’t worry about what time you get home; I’ll be watching Hocus Pocus with my noise cancelling headphones on, so you won’t disturb me!”

The way Ray looks between Patrick and David is unnerving, but he leaves soon after, leaving Patrick to give David a relieved look.

“I should probably go and change--”

David pulls a face. “Are you sure you want to do that. If the only thing you’ve got with you is the jeans and shirt you told me about then this might be preferable,” he teases, not missing the way Patrick’s eyes lighten up in response.

“I mean, I can leave it on if that’s what you prefer, David.”

“It’s your choice, you should just, do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Well, the make-up is starting to get a little itchy, so-- I’m gonna head to the caravan and change, and then I’ll meet up with you in a bit?”

“Oh, okay,” David says, nodding, so distracted dealing with his own disappointment that he doesn’t notice the other three scheming.

“I mean, that was presumptuous, you probably have plans, so--”

David shakes his head, anxious to rid the man of those thoughts. “No! No, I’d like to um, to hang out with you. If you still want?”

Patrick smiles and blinks at David who for a moment forgets the presence of his sister and the other cretins.

They are interrupted by Alexis looking between them with a sly smile. “You should get David to help you get all that make-up off your face.”

“Yeah, he’ll do it properly, so it doesn’t get stuck or turn your face green,” Stevie adds.

“It’s probably for the best that he helps, bud. Otherwise you’ll Zom- _be_ like that forever!”

The two girls turn to Ted and shake their heads but lead him away towards the Merry-Go-Round without another word. David turns to Patrick and awkwardly wrings his hands together.

“I don’t mind helping, um, if you need help,” he says softly.

“I’d appreciate that, David.”

Patrick leads him over to the small white caravan on the edge of the field. They enter, to find it barren except for a metal clothing rail and a few errant chairs around the room.

“Sorry there’s not much room in here,” Patrick mutters as David looks around. His voice has dropped lower for some reason and the sound goes straight to David’s groin. He sits down and waits while Patrick changes, emerging from behind a curtain in a pair of the aforementioned jeans and a comfortable looking blue sweater.

David stands and gestures for him to take his seat as he looks through the make-up boxes for some wipes. He stands carefully in front of Patrick and begins peeling off the layers of plasticine make-up, watching with interest as each layer brings him closer to seeing Patrick’s face. Patrick’s eyes follow him all the while, documenting every expression, every twitch of his lip and the slight crease between his eyebrows.

“There we go,” David mutters as he gets the last of the fake skin off his face. He winces as he bundles them all up in a tissue and puts them in the bin before returning his gaze to Patrick.

With the make-up wipe in hand, he gentle wipes around his eyes, finally removing all of the gross grey paint from his eyelids. David pauses as Patrick blinks up at him, and without thinking, brushes his thumb against the other man’s eyelashes, a thoughtful expression on his face.

He wipes off the last of the costume from Patrick’s face, finishing on his lips, and again, rubs his thumb over the clean skin slowly.

“David--”

The sound of Patrick’s voice shakes him from his reverie, and he looks down, suddenly noticing how close they are. His legs are bracketed by Patrick’s thighs, which have started to press inwards, as if to hold him there, and his hands are still cupping Patrick’s face gently.

David takes in the sight of Patrick’s face; revealed from behind the mask. His eyes are a beautiful sparkling opal colour; the lines around them suggesting mischief and humour. David’s eyes trace the barely-there freckles scattered across his cheeks, which are flushed slightly pink under the close gaze. His eyes drop to Patrick’s lips; pink, and flushed, and partly opened as he stares up at David almost pleadingly.

David’s hands drift to Patrick’s neck. His head tilts up searchingly and David can’t resist leaning down and pressing a testing kiss to Patrick’s top lip.

He pulls back. Patrick’s eyes stay closed and he pushes up into David’s hands in a clear request. David can’t resist leaning back down and kissing him again. Their kisses turn heated as Patrick’s warm mouth opens; he makes delightful little noises as David’s tongue breaches the line of Patrick’s lips and sucks on it just slightly, making David’s knees buckle.

David doesn’t know when he does it, but somehow, he finds himself in Patrick’s lap, straddling him on the chair with his hands white-knuckle grip on the bars of the back. He groans low in his throat as Patrick tightens his arms around his waist, hauling him further up so they are pressed together.

Suddenly, the plastic door bangs open and David is toppling back off Patrick’s thighs onto the floor. “Fuck!”

“Uhh- David.”

“Oops, looks like we interrupted them while they were getting _freaky._ ”

David growls low in his throat and stands up, spinning around to glare at his sister and friends with fury.

“Oh my _God,_ David.”

“We weren’t-- I wasn’t--” David stutters as he pulls on his sleeves awkwardly.

“Um, what’s that little mark?” Stevie asks, “Is that, is that a bruise, or some food, or something?” she gestures to her own mouth and chin, and David raises a hand to rub at it, staring at the grey makeup that comes away on his fingers.

“Oh my God,” he mutters rubbing at his mouth more harshly to make sure he’s clean of the grey paint. “What are you doing here?”

“We were gonna go to the café, I assume you’ll be joining us?”

“I--” David turns to look at Patrick hopefully. He’s met by a small smile and a nod. “Um, sure. We will be joining you.”

They all barrel out of the small caravan and head out of the field, David and Patrick drop behind the group and David tries to tamper down the small thrill he feels when Patrick slips their hands together and squeezes lightly.

“So, a motel room with your sister, huh?” Patrick murmurs, his face close enough to David’s ear that he can feel the air move. “How did you end up there?”

“Believe me, that story is far more terrifying than anything you’ll find in the Haunted House,” David replies, laughing lightly when Patrick hooks his chin over his shoulder as they walk.

“Another time then? Maybe this time you can protect me.”

David clamps down on his lips to hide the smile. “I’d like that.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 🎃


End file.
